Wall-mounted furniture



March 28, 1967 rr 3,311,435

WALL-MOUNTED FURNITURE Filed Aug. 30, 1965 Inventor KoBEkT HER! may Attorney 3,311,435 WALL-MOUNTED FURNITURE Robert Heritage, 2 Willow Ave, Barnes, London SW. 13, England Filed Aug. 30, 1965, Ser. No. 483,431 4 Claims. (Cl. 312-245) This invention relates to articles of furniture of the kind which rely for their support solely upon a suspension means secured to a wall, the articles each having at least one part which needs to be horizontal, or in some cases to be at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal, for the article to be correctly mounted. Typical articles to which the invention is applicable are cabinets, cupboards, bookcases, occasional tables, desks, bed head-boards and mirrors.

Diificulty is experienced in correctly hanging or mounting such furniture, especially so when, as is usually the case, the furniture is cumbersome and weighty.

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is the provision of articles of furniture wherein the process of correctly mounting them is made considerably easier and quicker than has been the case hitherto.

Another object of the invention is to provide furnituresuspension means which include an integral level-indicating device so that correct mounting of the furniture is assured.

A further object is to provide furniture suspension means which comprise two easily-separable parts, one of which is rigid with the article of furniture and the other of which is adapted to be fastened to a wall.

Yet another object is to provide furniture suspension means which are hidden completely or almost completely by the furniture when the latter has been positioned on a wall.

A still further object is to provide furniture suspension means which do not require that the furniture be held against the wall while the suspension means are being secured to the wall.

In accordance with the invention an article of furniture of the kind set forth above is provided with suspension means comprising a mounting element which is rigid with the upper part of the rear of the article, and a strip of wood, metal or the like serving as a batten and bearing a level-indicating device such as a bubble-tube, the mounting element and the batten having complementary mating means which are adapted to be interengaged by lowering the article with respect to the batten and which means when interengaged, prevent forward movement and further lowering of the article relatively to the batten, the complementary mating means and the level-indicating device being so correlated relatively to that part of the article which needs to be horizontal or at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal for the article to be correctly mounted that, when the complementary mating means are interengaged and the level-indicating device indicates level, the said part lies horizontally or at the desired angle to the horizontal.

Most articles to which the invention is applicable are of cabinet or of box-like form each having at least one surface, such as a shelf, which has to be horizontal when the article is mounted. The batten mentioned above for such an article preferably comprises a straight strip of wood having fixing holes along its length and an upstanding rib along its top surface, the front and rear surfaces of the rib lying to the rear and front of the front and rear faces respectively of the strip so that shoulders are provided at the front and rear of said top surface. Alternatively, the rear surface of the rib may lie forwardly of the rear face of the strip while the front surface of the rib lies flush with the front face of the strip so that a single shoulder is provided at the rear of said top sur- Patented Mar. 28, 1967 face. The rib is one of two relatively mating elements which comprise one form of the complementary mating means. The element complementary to the rib is a longitudinally grooved mounting element, e.g., a wood moulding fixed to the rear of the article at or near the top thereof, the groove being in the bottom edge of the moulding and this edge and the groove being parallel with the shelf or shelves. The back of the moulding lies flush with the rear edges of the top and sides of the article of furniture behind a backing and the thickness of the batten is such that, when the rib and grooves are interengaged, the said rear edges lie flush with the back face of the batten. Hence, when the article is mounted, those rear edges lie flush against the wall and the backing obscures the moulding, batten and wall. In order to ensure that the said rear edges are in practice urged towards the wall, the back face of the rib and the mating face therefor of the groove are inclined forwardly and upwardly so that the weight of the article acting on those faces produces a rearwardlyacting force component when the batten is fixed to a wall and the complementary elements are interengaged.

The level-indicator is preferably in the form of a bubble tube which is mounted at any convenient point in or on the batten, the bubble tube being so fixed in relation to the top edge of the batten that, when the bubble is at the level position, the top edge of the batten is horizontal. Hence, since the groove and the bottom edge of the moulding in which the groove is formed are parallel with the shelf or shelves of the article, the shelves assume a horizontal position when the moulding is lowered on to the batten which has been previously and easily fixed to a wall in a position such that the rib and top edge of the batten are horizontal.

One way of carrying out the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the preferred form of batten; and

FIGURE 2 is a sectional end elevation of an upper corner of an article of furniture of cabinet type in accordance with the invention mounted on a wall.

The batten shown in the drawings comprises a straight strip 1 of wood, metal or the like having fixing holes 2 along its length and an upstanding rib 3 along its top surface. The front face 4 of the rib lies rearwardly of the front face 5 of the batten; the back face 6 of the rib inclines downwardly towards but does not meet the rear face 7 of the batten. In this manner shoulders 8 and 9 are formed at the front and rear of the base of the rib. A bubble tube 10 is located within a recess in the front of the batten, the front of the recess being closed by a small cover plate 11 having a transparent part through which the centre of the bubble tube is visible, and the arrangement being such that the bubble indicates level when the rib 3 and the shoulders 8 and 9 are horizontal.

The rib 3 is, as previously stated, one of two relatively mating elements. The other or complementary element is a grooved moulding 12 at the top of the rear of the article of furniture 13. The groove 14 is in the underside of the moulding; it is complementary in shape to the rib 3 and is so located that, when the bottom or underface of the moulding rests on the shoulders 8 and 9, the back face 15 of the moulding and the back face 7 of the batten are substantially flush. The groove and the underface of the moulding are parallel with the top 16 of the article and with such other parts of the article as have to be horizontal when the article is mounted on a wall. The rear edges of the end walls and preferably the rear edge of the bottom of the article are flush with the back face 15 of the moulding.

Accurate fixing of the batten is a simple operation. Its position on the wall is decided upon; the batten is secured to the wall by means of a screw passing through one of the holes 2; the batten is swung on the screw until the bubble indicates level and then the batten is secured to the wall by at least a second fixing screw. When the moulding is lowered on to the batten the complementary elements interengage and the article is thus automatically located with its top and other parts parallel thereto horizontal, the inclined faces of the rib and groove respectively urging the article rearwardly as the bottom of the moulding approaches the shoulders 8 and 9. The batten preferably has a series of holes along its length as shown so that those most conveniently sited for a particular fixing operation may be selected for use.

The article 13 has a back 17 located to lie immediately in front of the batten so as to obscure the latter when the article is mounted.

I claim:

1. An article of furniture having two side walls and a top wall, and provided with suspension means by which said article is supported on a rigid supporting well, said suspension means comprising: a mounting element rigid with the upper part of the rear of said article, a lightweight batten completely separable from the mounting element and having a flat rear surface adapted to be fastened to said supporting Wall, at least one aperture in each end portion of said batten for receiving fixing means to fasten said batten to said supporting wall, a rib upstanding from the top surface of said batten and extending substantially the full length thereof, a groove in the bottom surface of said mounting element and extending substantially the full length thereof, said rib and said groove being shaped and sized to interengage and mate complementarily with each other, a shoulder of said batten extending substantially the full length thereof at the rear of said rib, a surface corresponding to and of substantially the same length as said shoulder on the bottom surface of said mounting element for seating on said shoulder when said rib and said groove are fully interengaged, a bubble-tube carried by a front portion of said batten between said fixing apertures and forming an integral part of said batten, said rib, said groove and said bubble-tube being correlated relatively to each other and to said article whereby, when the bubble of said bubbletube indicates that said bubble-tube is horizontal, said batten is then in a position for said article of furniture to be correctly mounted thereon, said batten being of a length not greater than the width of said article and said rear surface of said batten being flush with the rear edges of said side Walls and said top wall of the article when said article is mounted on said batten.

Z. An article of furniture as claimed in claim I, wherein said rib has a downwardly and rearwardly inclined rear surface, the face of said groove complementary to the said rear face of said rib being similarly inclined.

3. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mounting element has a flat rear face which lies flush with said rear face of said batten when said rib and said groove are interengaged.

4. An article of furniture as claimed in claim 1, Wherein said bubble-tube is arranged parallel to said rib on said batten to enable said batten to be secured to said wall with said rib lying horizontally exactly.

References fitted by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,629,431 5/1927 Allen 3 l2245 2,979,857 4/1961 Longboth-am 248-l88.2 2,986,282 5/1961 Brink 21l90 FOREIGN PATENTS 493,686 10/1938 Great Britain.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN ARTICLE OF FURNITURE HAVING TWO SIDE WALLS AND A TOP WALL, AND PROVIDED WITH SUSPENSION MEANS BY WHICH SAID ARTICLE IS SUPPORTED ON A RIGID SUPPORTING WALL, SAID SUSPENSION MEANS COMPRISING: A MOUNTING ELEMENT RIGID WITH THE UPPER PART OF THE REAR OF SAID ARTICLE, A LIGHTWEIGHT BATTEN COMPLETELY SEPARABLE FROM THE MOUNTING ELEMENT AND HAVING A FLAT REAR SURFACE ADAPTED TO BE FASTENED TO SAID SUPPORTING WALL, AT LEAST ONE APERTURE IN EACH END PORTION OF SAID BATTEN FOR RECEIVING FIXING MEANS TO FASTEN SAID BATTEN TO SAID SUPPORTING WALL, A RIB UPSTANDING FROM THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID BATTEN AND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THE FULL LENGTH THEREOF, A GROOVE IN THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF SAID MOUNTING ELEMENT AND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THE FULL LENGTH THEREOF, SAID RIB AND SAID GROOVE BEING SHAPED AND SIZED TO INTERENGAGE AND MATE COMPLEMENTARILY WITH EACH OTHER, A SHOULDER OF SAID BATTEN EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THE FULL LENGTH THEREOF AT THE REAR OF SAID RIB, A SURFACE CORRESPONDING TO AND OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME LENGTH AS SAID SHOULDER ON THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF SAID MOUNTING ELEMENT FOR SEATING ON SAID SHOULDER WHEN SAID RIB AND SAID GROOVE ARE FULLY INTER- 